Points
Each pick in the draft is assigned a points value, starting with 3000 for pick 1 down to 14 points for pick 54. Any picks after that are worth 0 points. The theory is that these points reflect the value of that draft pick to a team. The result is that there are a lot of trades that can be win‑win where one team needs points to match a bid while the other team intends to use the pick they get to draft a player.
Note: the points values have been overhauled this year to make it more difficult to match bids.
Bidding
On draft night, when it’s a team’s turn to pick, they can read out the name of a player that another team has priority access to. That team is given the opportunity to match the bid.
• If they don’t match, the bidding team gets the player and the draft continues as normal.
• If they do match, the matching process (below) applies. For points purposes, the player is considered taken at the bid pick.
Example: Essendon at pick 4 bids on Daniel Annable and Brisbane matches → the order shows Daniel Annable (Brisbane), then Essendon takes the next pick. The bidding team can bid again on the next turn, repeating until a team declines to match or they run out of eligible bids.
Matching
• From pick 37 onwards (nominal start of the third round), a bid can be matched with the team’s next available pick, regardless of points value.
• For earlier bids, the team must provide points equal to the bid value with a 10% discount (e.g., pick 1 is 3000 → 2700 to match).
• Picks must be used from the highest the team owns downward. (If a bid comes at pick 6 and the team holds 10, 29, and 30s, they must use 10 first, then 29, etc.)
• Teams may attempt trades before deciding to match or not.
What happens to the picks used to match?
When a pick is used to match, it doesn’t simply disappear. It has the used points removed and then slides back to directly after the next draft pick worth at least as many points remaining. Often this is 0 points, so the pick slides to the end; sometimes a pick (e.g., 42) might slide back only to ~51. The team generally keeps the same count of picks; they just move to the end.
Debt
If a team cannot reach the discounted cost, they may go into debt to match. Debt comes off the following year’s picks, starting with the pick in the same round as the bid (e.g., first‑round bid → debt from next year’s first). The maximum debt is 1167 points (pick 18 + 36 + 54), reduced if future picks have been traded out.
